Garet Newell - The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers, and Business Leaders: Moving in All Directions

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The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers, and Business Leaders

In this fascinating and practical book, Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden show how the Feldenkrais Method can be used by coaches and managers as a resource to improve both the performance of individuals and the health and wellbeing of the people they work with.

The Feldenkrais Method is based on sound mechanical and neurological principles that are easily accessible through simple practical lessons. Through its emphasis on experiential learning, The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers, and Business Leaders offers a means to improve many aspects of everyday working life: from sitting and walking more comfortably, improving interpersonal relations, developing personal impact and presence, to performing a highly developed skill more efficiently. By exploring patterns of everyday movement, the method encourages the discovery of new possibilities and choices providing a remarkable approach for expanding potential.

Although widely recognised within the performing arts and sports as a method for improving skills, performance and recovery from injury, the Feldenkrais Method is not as widely known outside these arenas, yet the principles and practice behind it are equally applicable to the workplace. Using case studies, the book highlights common issues that coaches and managers are frequently asked to deal with. Each case, and the impact it has in the workplace, is explored from the perspective of the Feldenkrais Method. Included at the end of each chapter there is a practical Awareness Through Movement lesson that addresses some of the themes raised.

The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers, and Business Leaders provides an invaluable resource for professionals interested in both learning and development, and health and wellbeing in the workplace. It will also appeal to counsellors and therapists interested in somatic approaches.

Garet Newell is the educational director of the Feldenkrais International Training Centre in the UK. She studied with Moshe Feldenkrais and became one of the first Europe-based trainers. She has been instrumental in introducing the Feldenkrais Method to a wide variety of people in both the UK and Europe. She played a crucial role in the formation of the International Feldenkrais community, having been a founding member of the International Feldenkrais Federation and of the European Training Accreditation Board.

Simon Paul Ogden is a learning and development practitioner with a background in strategic management consultancy. Specialising in interpersonal communication in business he is also a professional voice and performance coach working with senior executives from some of the UKs leading businesses. He is also a qualified mediator, accredited by Regents College School of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

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This book opens up new avenues for business coaches and practitioners alike it helps us to take practical steps in making the links between well-being and performance in the workplace. As an approach, its value lies in reminding us that self-awareness tends to be our main barrier to unlocking our potential. With examples taken from real-life and incorporating practical lessons to help us develop our awareness, this book is likely to resonate well with those looking to unleash their own business potential as well as offer useful advice to those typically charged with helping others improve their performance. As an approach to self-development, it is also likely to receive a welcome reception on enlightened MBA programmes. Dr Anjali Bakhru, BSc(Econ), MBA, PhD; Director of MBA Programmes, Middlesex University, UK

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Routledge Focus on Mental Health

Routledge Focus on Mental Health presents short books on current topics, linking in with cutting-edge research and practice.

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Focus-on-Mental-Health/book-series/RFMH

Titles in the series:

Working with Interpreters in Psychological Therapy
The Right to be Understood
Jude Boyles and Nathalie Talbot

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
A Newcomers Guide
Walter J. Matweychuk and Windy Dryden

The Feldenkrais Method for Executive Coaches, Managers, and Business Leaders
Moving in All Directions
Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden

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The Feldenkrais Method for
Executive Coaches, Managers,
and Business Leaders

Moving in All Directions

Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden

With a foreword by Sue Knight

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First published 2017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2017 Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden

The right of Garet Newell and Simon Paul Ogden to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-1-138-23091-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-31656-7 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK

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This book is dedicated to the memory of Moshe Feldenkrais and to all those who are furthering his vision

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The process whereby two people come together, collaborate, and write a book, especially one which seeks to bring two specific subjects together in a way that has not been considered extensively before (i.e. the Feldenkrais Method and Learning and Development in the workplace), can be especially complex. In this case the collaboration was much easier than expected. For the sake of clarity:

Paul took responsibility for writing the text for each chapter, introducing and exploring workplace issues and their impact on health and wellbeing.

Garet designed and wrote the Awareness Through Movement lessons addressing some of the issues raised and providing a practical example of how the Feldenkrais Method can be used to address the many issues that executive coaches, managers, and business leaders are faced with on a daily basis. In this endeavour we were helped by a number of people who we would like to acknowledge.

Obviously a big thank you to our commissioning editor, Susannah Frearson, from Routledge Focus who first suggested that we might like to submit a proposal to write this book. A second thank you to her for taking it through the editorial panel. Routledge initially published a couple of books by Moshe Feldenkrais including Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning. It is a privilege to be following in this tradition

Roger Russell, co-director of Feldenkrais Zentrum Heidelberg, provided some early input and advice regarding the neurological aspects of the Feldenkrais Method at the start of this project.